FALL 2008 acceptances

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

nef7j
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Post by nef7j » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:20 pm

So now I've heard that I've been nominated by the physics department for this DOVE fellowship. Sweet! Good Luck to you, VT!

VT
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Post by VT » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:12 pm

Congrats!
I have not heard anything! May be they decided not to nominate me!


when did you get the next email? ( if you do not mind)

anthonyk
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Post by anthonyk » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:52 pm

received an acceptance letter to University of Texas at Dallas today, smaller school, but I know I can go somewhere! :)

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jdhooghe
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Post by jdhooghe » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:46 pm

Congratulations to everyone who has recieved a letter so far!

physicsstudent
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Astronomy/UW

Post by physicsstudent » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:48 am

I got an email from the University of Washington (Seattle) today saying I am in. I have applied to astronomy, not physics, though. I was very surprised as I did not expect to hear back from them this early.

VT
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Post by VT » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:02 am

@ physicsstudent:
Can you please post your stats if you do not mind? Thanks.

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:08 am

I just checked my admit status this morning...

The result is:










"Status: Pending" :?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:19 pm

I have not heard anything from Cornell yet, This clearly suggests that their first round of offer is already full since couple of people on this forum already heard from them and there could be many other accepted along with geomar and other guys!!

this makes me lil dipressed! First round of offer is gone for Cornell! :(

I have started emailing people from dif schools and everytime I get the same msg :
your application is complete and is reviewed by the review committee. We will notify you as soon as the decisions are made.
WHAT THE HELL!!

**********************************************************************************

hey goodfromnear ( I hope u don mind me calling u goodfromnear)
your idea of backpacking will work great for me. then I will have only one thing in my head:
plz god help me find a (smokin hot) girl, and be raped by her!
hahahaahaha :lol: :lol:

Sounds lil perverted than funny, but hey I am not a pervert, alrite!

woooster
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FALL 2008 acceptances

Post by woooster » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:54 pm

RG,

you should not bothered by Cornell. I think what you called "first round" is just "early admission". Those are probably for people who has strength in every part of the application, i.e. research, courseworks, personal statement, pgre. Admission people know that those are "sure-in" based on the statistics. Therefore, admission don't even need to look at their application seriously and accept them.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:04 pm

thanx for the consolation wooster, but it is such a pain to wait for the decisions to come!

cornell is my top choice( after MIT, which I am 100% sure I will not get in coz of my low PGRE)


i really want to hear something from them, but they wont send any until Feb 15, I guess. sucks!

woooster
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FALL 2008 acceptances

Post by woooster » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:24 pm

not so sure. Did u read about MIt FAQ? They have ~600 applications, and they enrolled about 45-50 last few years. Which means they accept more than 100 students, may be ~120-130. So, the chance is higher than most top schools. Havard and Princeton enroll ~15-25 students.

What field did you apply for MIT? I would guess "theoretical condensed matter",

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:34 pm

yes, I applied to theoretical condensed matter. I applied to Princeton as well, but Princeton is not VERY good in CM. Professors are pretty old and it is hard to work with old people and also their work is not very interesting.
Mit has such a great dept, young people and everyone is on the top. Prof. Kardar is such a great Prof there. He does Biophysics via condensed matter and that is what I think i will be working on 10 years from now ( I have not taken any biology classes in my college though, but I think it is pretty easy to get all the biology we need for Physics in short period of time, am I wrong?)
!

What field are you applying to wooster! Is it High energy theory!!


Although I applied to theoretical condensed matter, I do not mind working on experiement and theory. i love both of them. However, I have zero experience in experiment. All my work have been in theory( which means, problem solvings, readings and a few nice std problems).

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:40 pm

I did not apply to Harvard, for some reason, which i have not figured out yet!!
May be I thought Cornell ~ Harvard when it comes to theoretical Condensed Matter. Also UIUC is there on top of them.
i really would be so elated on hearing from places like UIUC, or Cornell or even UCSD.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:50 pm

hey wooster have you studied renormalization technique at any point ? I was guessing that since u have done QFT you would be the right person to ask qestions. I will appreciate it. Also, since you come from top school, if you do not you mind, can u plz share with us what you are working on for your Honor thesis? I have read so many honor thesis from top lib arts College ( coz mine is a little a-hole) and could not find any thing interesting.




I have not seeen ANYBODY on this forum who is interested in theoretical condensed matter physics with an inclination towards stat mech/biophysics ( of course we need QFT here, so it is NOT a cheap area of research)

Can you guys list the area of your interests within condnesed matter physics? This discussion will be really helpful to each one of us ( ofcourse we will sometime need a hungry girl raping RG and stealing his food, right goodfromnear?)

woooster
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FALL 2008 acceptances

Post by woooster » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:00 pm

Haha, I really don't know anything about condensed matter. But if your experience is in theory, it would make your application more appealing when u apply to theory than experiment. I didn't apply to MIT because of too much constraint, and I recently consider cosmology. Do you have connection in MIT? Theory is very tough to get in usually, relative to experiment. Top schools separate their applications into theory and experiment.

I applied to exp. particle physics, because this is the relative easier field to get in with LHC running this year. It also maximizes my applicant potentials, since I worked in two different particle experiment groups. I really didn't need to think, and just convinced them in my statement.

By renormalization, I think u meant renormalization group? I only learn renormalization group eq. enough to compute "running coupling constant." It is just like learning complex variables in Griffiths' QM, you just learn the basic enough to go on. you don't learn things such as Cauchy-Riemann eq, conformal mapping. So, I don't really know if I can say I know renormalization group. :oops:

KB
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Post by KB » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:02 pm

A list of when schools started sending out acceptances last year. Theoretically in chronological order even though some of the earlier ones don't have dates.

01. Yale Biophysics
02. Ohio State Biophysics , Astronomy
03. Stanford Biophysics
04. UCSF Biophysics
05. UC Berkeley Biophysics
06. Harvard Biophysics (22nd Jan)
07. College of William & Mary
08. UC Santa Barbara Materials department
09. Caltech Materials department
10. MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering
11. Johns Hopkins Physics 26th January
12. U. of Washington Physics
13. USC Physics
14. Ohio State Physics - 01/27
15. UCSB Physics - 01/29
16. Caltech Astronomy/Astrophysics 01/27
17. Princeton Astronomy - Feb 1
18. U Chicago Astronomy - Feb 3

19. Penn State, Astronomy - Feb 5
20. UIUC, Astronomy - Feb 5
21. Cornell, Physics - Feb 6
22. Texas A & M
23. Lehigh University - Feb 7
24. Rochester, Optics - Feb 7
25. UC Davis, Applied Sciences
26. University of Michigan - Feb 8
27. Florida State University- Feb 8
28. Washington University - Feb 8
29. Columbia University - Feb 8
30. Carnegie Mellon - Feb 8
31. Indiana University Astronomy 2/8
32. Dartmouth Physics
33. Boston U Physics

34. Harvard Astronomy
35. MIT Physics 2/12

Maxwells_Demon
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Post by Maxwells_Demon » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:14 pm

Does anyone know the differences in difficulty in getting accepted to MIT's Physics or Nuclear Science/Engineering program? I think MIT allows you to apply to more than one department, but I'd rather take the latter program....
-Maxwell's Demon

goodfromfar
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Post by goodfromfar » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:51 pm

thanks KB! This is definitely good to know

KB
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Post by KB » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:54 pm

There was a letter from CU Boulder (Astronomy) on my doorstep when I got home tonight (an acceptance =)) so I guess they're starting to notify people. Anyone else hear from them?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:06 am

why shud the letter be right on the doorstep! why couldnot the letter be inside !

I guess you shud call them and tell them hey from next time on I want my letter INSIDE my door not on my door step!

Congrats though!

DigitallyCrazy
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Stats, hopes, and dreams

Post by DigitallyCrazy » Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:49 am

I go to a top-ten or top-twenty (depends on the list) physics university, and here are my stats:

Quant: 780/90%
Verbal: 640/91%
Writing: 5.0/(I forget)

Physics: 760/69% (SUCKY!!! This is the part that scares me... I don't know what happened!!!)

Phys/Math GPA: 3.98
Cumulative: 3.939

Research: Two papers, one first-author, one listed. One summer at a lesser-known hospital with MRI (not stellar), one at home university, continuing during the year, one at LBNL.

Honors/Awards: One scholarship, one research program for minorities.

Schools Applied (all physics - none responded):

Caltech
Stanford
MIT
U Chicago
UC Berkeley
UCSB
UCLA

Backups (Sorta - these are still pretty good. Starting to think I should've applied to more secure places.):
UCSD
U Florida

Guys, I'm seriously going crazy, I need help in the worst way. How are you guys coping with not knowing what's going on???

Oh, and Chicago e-mailed me recently, said they hadn't received my GRE and wanted a fax of it. I sent them the actual receipt-thing from ETS that showed Chicago listed on it, lol.

Also, in true physics-style, I figured a good first-order approximation of my chance of getting in is approximately 20% in each school. So my chances of getting into one of my top schools is 79%, which isn't too bad, but isn't all that great. On the other hand, if I'm actually correct, the top three is a 48.8% chance, which is pretty good. Of course, the 20% is just guessing. ::sigh:: I wish there was a way to get a more concrete number on that one. If it's 10% per school, then the numbers go to 52.2% and 27.1%, which are downright scary.

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:19 am

Do most schools send an email? Or is snail mail how you usually hear?

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:34 am

I guess all top 10s are snail, and the rest excluding few are email.

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:22 pm

Seriously, the waiting is killing me. I need to know if I'm going to graduate school or becoming a garbage man.

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:40 pm

Me too twistor!
This is so annoying, frustrating and all those words that have -ve conotation!


I just do not feeel like studying until I hear from at least one place. I keep asking one question when I try to study physics again, WHAT FOR?

I want to hear from OHIO STATE, at least. That is my only safety school and they are really good in CMT. I do not understand what to do with these mo'fo's!

When we go for interview, we all shud try to sneak in and sleep with these Prof. daughters and may be they will realize how traumatized we are.(hahaha, is there any good way to screw them up other than this)

It is so freaking frustrating. Ihave nothing to do. I do not care my grades anymore for this semester. I check my emails million times, go to the mail room thousand times, and have set up all alerts on my messaging on computers and cellphones.
conclusion is:
RG is totally freaked out!

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fermiboy
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Post by fermiboy » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:47 pm

Haha I hear you Twistory & RG. I'm also checking my email many times a day, visiting this board all day, checking my mail, logging into my online applications hoping for some sort of "message" etc. To quote Tom Petty:

"The waiting is the hardest part."

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:50 pm

I wonder why there are so few people on this board this year!!
Last year there were more than 100, now only hadfull of us!!

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zxcv
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Post by zxcv » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:54 pm

Don't worry, you'll be hearing from everyone once people start getting in... but obviously that rush is not on yet.

Sadly I'm not really expecting anything for another month.

schandre
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Post by schandre » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:17 pm

This topic is the only thing keeping my sanity.
As zxcv noted we'll be hearing from everyone once people start getting in.
So, the fact that no one has heard anything from the schools I applied to is still a relief.

hchemist
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Post by hchemist » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:52 pm

I got a letter from UT-Houston. It says,

"I am happy to tell you, that the faculty admissions committee concluded that you are qualified for admission to GSBS. However the final determination concerning your admission can only be made after the Medical Physics faculty has made its overall ranking of applicants. "

"Please remember that, .......you have until April 15 to make your final decision about whether to accept or decline an ofer of admission"


So I read this a couple times and I still don't know whether or not I am accepted. It says I'm QUALIFIED for admission. But who's not qualified? Why would they give me a letter saying such thing? Also, the fact that they mention about the deadline to accept offer makes me want to think that I am admitted.

This letter was printed on Jan14. But the deadline for the program was Jan 15.
I have submitted my application on Dec 15.

Anybody heard something from UT-Houston?

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:13 pm

I got into Wisconsin Medical Physics!

gekkehenkie
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Post by gekkehenkie » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:23 pm

Congrats Twistor!
Now who's gonna get rid of all the garbage?!

Alright, back to course work for me.

marten
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Post by marten » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:25 pm

Congrats, twistor. Now you're one of the few that can actually sit back for a bit and relish your accomplishment.

Marten

xdebugger
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Post by xdebugger » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:50 pm

Wow. That must have felt great, Twistor. Good job!
I am among those who have not heard from anywhere... This is very stressful...

cancelled20080417
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Post by cancelled20080417 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:51 pm

Twistor, congrats ! you made it !
now who is gonna take care of funding of my research in weed cultivation!!

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:53 pm

The state of California?

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grae313
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Post by grae313 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:46 pm

twistor, I'm jealous! congratulations!

hchemist
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Post by hchemist » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:01 pm

twistor:

Hey, congratulation! and I'm still waiting to here from them. How did you hear it? Was it e-mail?

DigitallyCrazy
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Post by DigitallyCrazy » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:02 pm

Twistor: Nice! Congrats!!

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:14 pm

Yeah, they sent me an email this afternoon.

geomar
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Post by geomar » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:41 pm

Congrats twistor, physicsstudent, KB and anyone I missed.

anthonyk
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Post by anthonyk » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:14 pm

good for you! wisconsin is beautiful, ive lived here my whole life, though where i live its -1 deg right now, not including wind chill!

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:15 pm

Thanks everyone. I feel like my future is a little more secure now. Of course, I have no funding yet...

GCS
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Post by GCS » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:33 am

I just got a phone call from Penn State Astronomy and Astrophysics!!!

...It really took me by suprise since it was like 10pm est, but it's certainly very exciting 8)

anthonyk
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Post by anthonyk » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:02 am

congrats! hmm phone call, what did they say?

GCS
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Post by GCS » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:13 am

hmm phone call, what did they say?
The very first line was something like "Congratulations, you got into grad school"

Then he essentially walked me through some general information regarding the program, some other paperwork that needs to be filled out, visiting days and what not, and I guess roughly that was about it...

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twistor
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Post by twistor » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:25 am

Congrats!

dnbaker
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Post by dnbaker » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:30 am

Invitation to interview at:

UIUC Biophysics and Comp. Bio
UPenn Biochemistry and Mol. Biophysics

Still waiting to hear from:

Boston U
Stanford Bioengineering
Harvard SEAS
JHU, 3 diff programs.

Stats:
GRE:
800, 640.

Physics: 750

GPA: 3.60, but it has been 3.90 since a year and a half ago when I shaped up.

Ball State University

1 Presentation, a wide variety of scholarships, research fellowship, great letters of recommendation, two majors, and graduating at age 18.

woooster
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FALL 2008 acceptances

Post by woooster » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:22 pm

So, I get bored and did some simple approximation on how many people will end up in some top schools based on the size of their program.

Harvard size ~ 20
Princeton ~ 20
Mit ~ 45
Berkeley ~ 35
Caltech ~ 25
Stanford ~ 30
Chicago ~ 35
Yale ~ 35
Cornell ~ 30
UCSB ~ 20
(the list is not in any order)

Above ~295 people will end up in one of the above place! I don't know how many indiv people apply to grad schools. But there are like ~400-600 applicants for each top program. May be about 1000 different people apply to the top programs, since there are so many overlap? The chance to get into grad school still seems quite big, 30%. I hope this make everyone feel more relaxed
:P

marten
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Post by marten » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:27 pm

I was thinking about my own chances of getting accepted somewhere, based on my chances of getting in anywhere, so I made this spreadsheet. I'm applying to 7 schools, but it could easily be changed for a different number. You put the probability that you'll get accepted to one school, and it calculates the probability that you'll get in to at least 1, or more schools. Interesting to see some numbers.

http://marten.beels.info/P_accepted.xls

Guess I was a bit bored also, and anxious, like most people here, probably!

FWIW,
Marten



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